What is toxicity?

July 24, 10:21 AMHolistic Health ExaminerDr. Cathleen V. Carr

Toxicity occurs on two basic levels--external and internal. We can acquire toxins from our environment by breathing them, by ingesting them, or through physical contact with them. We all are exposed to toxins daily. We eat and drink them and impose them upon ourselves repeatedly and regularly. Most drugs, food additives, and allergens can create toxic elements in the body. In fact, any substance can have toxicity--water, sodium, and almost all nutrients can be a problem in certain circumstances.

On the internal level, our body produces toxins through its normal everyday functions. Biochemical, cellular, and bodily activities generate substances that need to be eliminated.Our thoughts and emotions and stress itself generate increased biochemical toxicity. The proper level of elimination of these toxins is essential to health. Microbes of all kinds--intestinal bacteria, foreign bacteria, yeasts, and parasites--produce metabolic waste products that we must handle. Free radicals are biochemical toxins. When these substances/molecules/toxins are not eliminated, they can cause irritation or inflammation of the cells and tissues, blocking normal functions on a cellular, organ, and whole-body level.

Toxicity occurs in our body when we take in more than we can utilize and eliminate. Clearly, a normal functioning body was created to handle certain levels of toxins. Our concern is with excess intake or production of toxins or a reduction in the processes of elimination.

Homeostasis means that our body functions are in balance.

This balance is disturbed when we feed ourselves more than we can utilize or partake of specific substances that are toxic. Toxicity may depend on the dosage, frequency, or potency of the toxin. A toxin may produce an immediate or rapid onset of symptoms, as many pesticides and some drugs do; possibly, even more commonly, it may cause some long-term negative effect, such as asbestos exposure leading to lung cancer.

Of course, if our body is working well, with good immune and eliminative functions, we can handle our basic everyday exposure to toxins. The purpose of this section is to discuss ways to support the elimination of toxins, excessive mucus, congestion, and disease and to prevent, on a day-to-day basis, the buildup of toxicity.

Through detoxification, we clear and filter toxins and wastes and allow our body to work on enhancing its basic functions.

See a parasites video here